Are Guidelines and Standards for Web Usability Comprehensive?

A previous paper compared the 110 guidelines in ISO CD 9241-151 with the 187 guidelines produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and found that 76% of the HHS guidelines and 54% of the ISO guidelines were unique. New versions of both the original 2004 documents were issued in 2006, but 71% of the HHS guidelines and 46% of the ISO guidelines are still unique. Neither set of guidelines is easy to use for an expert review of whether a web site complies with the guidelines. A more comprehensive checklist has been developed, based on the HHS and ISO guidelines, but extended to include additional research-based guidelines on privacy and security and e-commerce. It is complemented by a handbook describing each guideline in more detail, illustrated with an example, and with an explanation of how it should be tested and when compliance can be stated.